Test Setup

Test Setup

We’ll be evaluating the three cards using our Intel X58 testbed which has the following specifications:

Intel Core i7-975 (3.33GHz)

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard

3 x 1GB DDR3-1333 G.Skill memory in triple channel mode

Seagate 7200.10 200GB SATA hard drive

Windows 7 Ultimate

?We didn't actually get a 'reference' GTX 560 from NVIDIA, but given the range of clock speeds allowed, there is perhaps no such thing as reference clocks. Hence, we'll be looking at the three custom models from ASUS, ECS and Palit, each with a different clock speed. We'll see if the fancy coolers on the ASUS and Palit cards help in the overclocking and the cooling portion.

For comparison, we have thrown in some of the old and new graphics cards that can compete with the GTX 560. Obviously, the GTX 560 Ti will be included in our results as the next faster NVIDIA card of this generation. The older GTX 460 and 470 are also included. From AMD, we felt that the 6870 and 6850 provide good data points to judge the GTX 560 while the old but gold 5850 may yet prove to be a surprise package.